Re: log: joker & the bat
The Joker had a certain type when it came to henchman. The clinically insane were always a safe bet, usually bought without money down, the only necessary selling point being the promise of guns and confetti straight from Heaven. Now, being fresh out of Arkham himself, and being in a Gotham that didn't even recognize him for who he'd built himself to be over the years? That made recruitment a bit harder. Who the hell was this Joker? What was going to make this one stick around when so many others had fallen through the cracks of time and universes? And maybe they had a point, but...
See, with the right kind of - we'll call it flair, with the right nature, a man can be more than just a man. A single line in the paragraph can become the punchline of a whole joke that one wasn't even aware was a joke being told. Didn't they see?
Well, with enough bullets spent, and limbs hatcheted loose from sockets, and laughter breaking through the glass of kerosene-lit windows... they saw. They saw dollar signs, and the Joker liked to think that they saw the potential, but ultimately that is how he gained a more dedicated rank of patrolman in this particular arsenal. It was a little sick, wasn't it? How everything came down to money. Money was dirty, it was simple. The Joker, if he was going to buy anyone's loyalty, he didn't want it to be done through money. No, money could be spent. It could be gone in a wash of gasoline and matches. Money didn't last, not like memories, not like smiles. The Joker had a preferred way of conducting business, but the unfortunate truth of this Gotham was that it wasn't up to speed with his vision yet. They didn't see it. They didn't get the joke.
But they would.
Oh, and speaking of jokes, the Batman or some Bat-child was apparently on the premises because the little radio transmitter taped to the carnation on his lapel was going on and on with absolutely crazy news. It seems that gunmen were dropping like flies out there on the fields of his playground. It wasn't especially disconcerting; money spent, men undoubtedly alive but just unconscious(Because those Bats had a certain code to live by, didn't they?).
And while he thought that the policeman might arrive first, this was no policeman(or woman, he wasn't being especially sexist in his blind assessment of the situation he found himself). It just seemed like good ol' Batman, and the Joker was glad! What kind of guy would he be if he couldn't find a little bit of comfort in a world gone wacky?
Immediately, the music cut to silence, and from his seat visible just beyond the doorway, at that table lit up for two, the Joker beckoned darkness. His gloved hand curled welcome at inevitability, at good versus evil, at destiny.